Meilin Lee (played by Rosalie Chiang) is a 13-year-old girl who one day wakes up as a giant red panda, a power she inherited from her ancestors that allows her to transform into the animal whenever she feels a strong emotion.
Not so useful when she has to navigate the emotional challenge that is life as a teenager, especially when she wants to be her own person but has to contend with her mother Ming’s (Sandra Oh) overprotective nature.
Like many animation films, Turning Red has a stellar soundtrack and Newsweek can share everything you need to know about it, including the tracklist.
All The Songs Featured on the ‘Turning Red’ Soundtrack
Turning Red features three songs written by Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas O’Connell, who is known by the mononym Finneas, which they made for the film’s fictional boyband 4*Town.
The duo wrote and composed “Nobody Like U”, “1 True Love” and “U Know What’s Up”, and Finneas sings on all three alongside Jordan Fisher, Josh Levi, Topher Ngo, and Grayson Villanueva.
Of creating the songs, Eilish said in a press release: “We had to write songs that would be popular in 2000, which at the time, I was one year old.
“But boy bands have a very specific sound, and it’s music I grew up listening to and loved. It was really, really fun to just play around in that world and write in the mind of a corny boy.”
Ludwig Göransson also composed the soundtrack for Turning Red, writing almost 30 classical songs that highlight Mei’s story to its fullest.
The composer, like Eilish and Finneas, tried to recreate the sounds of classic boy bands in the soundtrack, and he said in a press release: “I used a lot of the same sounds and synths that were inspired by the Cheiron studio—the Swedish studio that established the ’90s boy-band sound.
“The boy band is a part of Mei’s identity, so it was important to weave that sound into the score.”
He added: “The score is a clash of cultures as well a clash between the older generation and the new. The clash in musical styles also represents Mei’s internal struggle with her own identity. But these conflicts push her forward into her journey of self-discovery.”
Here is the Full Tracklist for ‘Turning Red’:
Nobody Like U – 4TOWN, Jordan Fisher, Finneas O’Connell, Josh Levi, Topher Ngo, Grayson Villanueva [written by Billie Eilish and Finneas]1 True Love – 4TOWN, Jordan Fisher, Finneas O’Connell, Josh Levi, Topher Ngo, Grayson Villanueva [written by Billie Eilish and Finneas]U Know What’s Up – 4TOWN, Jordan Fisher, Finneas O’Connell, Josh Levi, Topher Ngo, Grayson Villanueva [written by Billie Eilish and Finneas]Family – Ludwig GöranssonTurning Red – Ludwig GöranssonMeilin Lee – Ludwig GöranssonTemple Duties – Ludwig GöranssonJin’s Family Dinner – Ludwig GöranssonDrawing Love – Ludwig GöranssonNever Again Dream – Ludwig GöranssonTurning Panda – Ludwig GöranssonPanda-monium – Ludwig GöranssonAncestors – Ludwig GöranssonInconvenient Genetics – Ludwig GöranssonU Know What’s Up (The Panda Hustle Version) – 4TOWN, Jordan Fisher, Finneas O’Connell, Josh Levi, Topher Ngo, Grayson VillanuevaTyler’s Deal – Ludwig GöranssonThe Aunties – Ludwig GöranssonGrandma’s Warning – Ludwig GöranssonKeeping The Panda – Ludwig GöranssonDad Talk – Ludwig GöranssonRed Moon Ritual – Ludwig GöranssonI’m Keeping It – Ludwig GöranssonMaking It Right – Ludwig GöranssonUnleashing The Panda – Ludwig GöranssonStadium Ritual – Ludwig GöranssonPandas Unite / Nobody Like U (Reprise) – Ludwig Göransson, 4*TOWN, Jordan Fisher, Finneas O’Connell, Josh Levi, Topher Ngo, Grayson Villanueva, Turning Red – CastThe Real Ming – Ludwig GöranssonNo Going Back – Ludwig GöranssonLet Your Inner Panda Out – Ludwig GöranssonNobody Like U (Instrumental) – Finneas O’Connell1 True Love (Instrumental) – Finneas O’ConnellU Know What’s Up (Instrumental) – Finneas O’Connell
Turning Red is out on Disney+ now.
